Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon says he has had enough.
The vacant Buffalo Grand is not only negatively impacting efforts by Visit Buffalo Niagara to book larger-scale conventions and meetings, but the abandoned property with uncut grass and boarded-up doors makes for a less-than-welcoming gateway into downtown.
“This legal process is necessary, and it's long overdue,” Scanlon said. “This property has been vacant since 2022; in that time, it has racked up 18 code violations, $89,000 in unpaid taxes and sewer fees, and has become a public eyesore and a safety concern.”
Using a recently enacted state law, Buffalo has started “Article 19” proceedings against the hotel’s ownership, Buffalo Grand Hotel Inc. - a move that could see the courts allow the city to take control of the property and then put it up for sale.
The hotel with 489 rooms is the largest in downtown Buffalo, but has been dark since early 2020 and suffered significant damage in a late 2021 fire.
The delays have not sit well with Scanlon.
“They’ve had four years to address the issues here at the property. So, we're initiating this today and they have 30 days to address the situation. But again, they’ve had four years to do that,” Scanlon said.
It may also start a new legal tug-of-war for the hotel that has helped anchor the city’s hospitality industry since it opened in 1978 as the Buffalo Hilton and later as the Adam’s Mark.
But Harry Stinson, the Canadian businessman whose company bought the complex in 2018, disputes that, and alleges he was blindsided by the June 19 announcement.
“We were within probably three weeks of receiving loan funds that would reopen the property,” Stinson said. “This political grandstanding will probably derail that. I am absolutely furious.”
Buffalo corporation counsel Cavette Chambers says the Article 19 action is a new legal cousin to eminent domain proceedings, designed to fast-track municipal ownership of what is likely an abandoned property.
“If he (Stinson) has not done anything to actually show demonstrably that he's cured all of the housing code violations, then we'll be able to move forward with the proceeding, and that's in order to show cause that's heard before the court,” Chambers said.
Since Article 19 provisions were enacted in late 2022, several cities have used them in residential cases. Chambers says the Buffalo Grand may be the first time in the state that it has been used on a commercial property.
Stinson has 30 days to respond.
“I don't even know what the hell Article 19 is,” Stinson said. “I understand the general gist of it. I don't know any of the legalities, but we are sure of hell not taking this lying down.”
The proceedings now head to the State Supreme Court, and if rulings back the city, a Request for Qualifications could be issued later this year, setting the stage for a proposal and bidding process for the hotel.
